The present disclosure relates, in general, to cleaning apparatus and, more specifically, to apparatus for cleaning glass, mirrors and the like.
Various tools are available to clean glass, such as the exterior surface of vehicle windows. Such tools typically include a handle and a perpendicularly oriented cleaning element, such as a wiper blade, sponge rubber pad, and combinations thereof. Water or ammonia based cleaning fluid is applied to the exterior surface of the vehicle window and scraped off by the tools to remove debris. Such tools are easy to use on the exterior surface of vehicle windows since the exterior surface of the vehicle windows is easily accessible both to apply cleaning fluid to the windows and to remove the fluid and debris from the windows.
A variety of tools have been devised specifically to clean the inner surfaces of vehicle windows. Such tools are typically formed of a pad which is connected to an elongated handle. A cleaning element is attached to one side of the pad by various means including clips, straps, or hooks and pile fasteners. However, each of these tools is specifically devised for a single type of cleaning operation, such as scrubbing or drying, but not both.
An improved and more effective cleaning apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,231,684 and 6,795,999. In these cleaning apparatus, the inner pad between the bottom surface of the paddle and the encompassing cleaning element or bonnet is formed of an easily absorbent material.